K. This is the 1st working draft of vol. VI. It still ... - From Marx to Mao

Comrades,
ON LU HSUN*
!(#&
FROM MARX
TO MAO
Our main tasks at the present moment are those of the vanguard.
At a time when the great national Resistance War is making rapid
progress, we need a large number of activists to play the leading
⋆
role [in it] and a large number of vanguards to find the path. Vanguards
must be frank, positive, and up-right people. They seek no
self-interest, only national and social emancipation. They fear no
hardships, instead, in the face of hardship they are determined and
forever moving forward. Neither undisciplined nor fond of limelight,
they have their feet firmly on the ground and are realistic.
They are the guides on the road of revolution. In the light of the
present state of the war, if the Resistance is the concern only of the
government and armed forces, without the participation of the broad
masses, we cannot be certain that we shall win the final victory. We
must now train a large number of vanguards who will fight for our
national liberation and can be relied upon to lead and organize the
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masses for the fulfilment of this historic mission. First of all, the
numerous vanguards of the whole country must urgently organize
themselves. Our communist party is the vanguard of national lib-
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eration. We must fight to the bitter end in order to accomplish our
tasks.
Today we commemorate [the death] of Lu Hsun. We must first
of all understand him and his place in the history of our revolution.
We commemorate him not only because he was a distinguished writer
but also because he, at the forefront of national emancipation, dedicated
all his strength to the revolutionary struggle. (We commemorate
him not only because he wrote well, becoming a great literary
* Speech at the meeting Commemorating the First Anniversary of the Death of
Lu Hsun held in the North Shensi Public School on October 19, 1939. Reproduced
from the fortnightly July (Chi-yueh), March 1938.
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